Billfold



May 27 1952 c. A. ANDERSON 2,597,967

' "BILLFoLD Filed Aug. 1, 195o gi-Vw 38,33 3%8 sal/A l l l @x j F n 1ENVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented May 27, 1952 BILLFOLD Carl A. Anderson,Cranston, R. I., assignor to Anson, Inc., Providence, R. I., acorporation of Rhode Island Application August 1, 1950, Serial No.176,957

7 Claims.

1 This invention relates to improvements in billfolds and moreparticularly to mechanical means nwithin the billfold for removablyholding bills or other strips of paper.

One object of the present invention is to provide mechanical means of asimple, inexpensive and compact construction for retaining bills in aprearranged order and then be able to remove any single bill withoutdisturbing the arrangement or order of the remaining bills.

Another object of the present invention is to `provide a mechanicalarrangement for holding bills which is pleasant in appearance anddurable in construction.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a mechanicalarrangement for holding bills which is light in weight and foolproof inoperation.

Other objects of this invention will become apparent in part and bepointed out in part from the following specification and claims.

According to the prior art and commercial practice, billfolds have beenmade with leaf springs acting as clips. These have proven themselvesinadequate because no finger grips were provided to lift the clipagainst the tension of the spring. People with tender fingers injuredtheir finger nails and finger tips. Loss of sales followed. The springclips could not be held back while bills were inserted. The bills had tobe slid into place resulting too frequently in upsetting the arrangementof the bills. The leaf springs are greatly limited in the stack of billswhich can be inserted. The leaf spring being light and fragile lackeddurability. Where durability was provided, a heavy metal frame was usedto hold the clip. The result was a heavy article 'of `iewelry whichshould have been light, serviceable and easy on pocket linings. Thepresent invention was designed to overcome these and other objections.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is to be described byreference to the accompanying figures of the drawing wherein likereference numerals refer to like parts, in which:

Figure 1 is' a front elevational view of a billfold containing the newbill clip.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a billfold hous- -ing the new billclip.

Figure 4 is a side elevational view of the billfold clip, partly insection, with the gripping fingers in open position.

Similar reference characters designate similar parts in the severalviews.

Referring to Figures l, 2 and 3, the improved billfold I comprises twostrips of flexible material II and I2, as leather, fastened together; asby stitching I3. The upper strip I2 has fastened to its underside orinside area another piece of material I3, which may consist of leatherwith an open pocket I4 is shown or part I3 may consist of aftransparentmaterial, as plastic, fastened, as with stitches I5. Thus providing apocket for an identification card.

The lower strip II is provided with a flap I6 which may house the maleportion of a snap fastener being located in strip I2.

The new and improved clip consists of a U-shaped housing 20, see Figures1, 2, 3 and 4. A U-shaped piece of wire 2I provided with legs 22 and 23rests in the base of the U of yhousing 20 and has its legs 22 and 23passing through holes in said housing 20 for a purpose, presently to bedescribed.

A spring member 24 is retained in the U slot of housing 20 by means ofan ear 25 extending from one side of the U-shaped housing 20and bentacross the opening of the U as shown in Figure 3. Spring member 24 isprovided with a slot of a dimention to accommodate the width and depthof ear 25 thus not only retaining member 24 in housing 20 but alsopreventing substantial side thrust spring member 24.

Two fingers, 26 and 21 preferably of ornamental design, are pivotallymounted in either end of U-shaped housing 20 by means of pins 28 and 29which have their ends fiattened or riveted over. Fingers 26 and 21 arearcuately shaped with finger gripping nobs 30 and 3| located on the highside of the arc of their respective fingers.

The ends of fingers 26 and 21 nearest their respective pivoting pointsare provided with two cam surfaces each. See Figures l and 4 where camsurfaces 32 and 33 are clearly shown on finger 26. These respective camsurfaces bear alternately on the ends 36 and 31 of spring member 24.U-shaped housing 20 is relieved on either end at 38 and 39 to allow ends3B and 31 to be depressed beyond the base of U-shaped member 20 whenngers 26 and 21 are pivoted from the position shown in Figures 1 and 3to the position shown in Figure 4.

Spring member 24 takes the shape shown in Figure 4 in order to providethe maximum life of a sturdy bar stock to a minimum lifting pressure onfingers 2S and 21 while providing a positive positioning means for saidfingers and insurance against accidental movement of said fingersespecially when paper money is positioned between the U-shaped member 20and the ends 40 and 4I of fingers 26 and 21.

The gripping element assemblyshown inF-igure 4 is positioned betweenstrips Il and I2 as shown in Figure 3. Legs 22 and 23 of wire 2i arepushed between stitches i3 and bent over as shown in Figure 1. In thismanner an inexpensive fastening means is provided for a mechanical billgripping element and a bill holder cover.

A piece of partially rounded tubing 5.12 is provided to prevent theaccidental displacement of legs 22 and 23 after they are bent into theworking position shown in Figure 1 and to cover the ends of strips iland I2 while providing an attractive adjunct to the finished product. Inaddition the open edges of tube 42, see Fig. 3, will reinforce stitchesI3 and assist in holding strips H and l2 together.

In the use of the billfold, fingers 26 and lwill be raised as shown inFigure 4. The bills will be placed in the order of desireddenominational arrangement, over the edge of U shaped member 29 andspring 24 with the approximate center of the bills over said member andspring. Fingers 26 and 2'.' will be closed as shown in Figures 1 and 3.The ends 86 and 3l of spring member 2li acting on cam surfaces 33 and3i! will securely position ends 49 and @l against the top surface of thebills securely holding the bills in place. If it is desired to remove abill from the center of the pack, all that is necessary for theoperation is to open the wallet as shown in Figure 3, hold the desiredbill between thumb and fcrenger and give a jerking motion. The bill willbecome distendered from the pack without disturbing any of the otherbills.

It will be seen that a positive, foolproof, easy to operate billfoldwith mechanical gripper means is provided which has real utility whenthe holder is in a crowd or in a hurry.

What I claim is:

1. In a billfold of the type having covers interconnected by a hingeabout which said covers mai7 be swung to and from open and closedpositions and a spring clamp for retaining bills therein, thatimprovement in said spring clamp which comprises a frame secured at thehinge, a spring mounted in said frame and a clamp pivotally mounted insaid frame adapted to be held in position by said spring.

2. In a billiold of the type having covers interconnected by a hingeabout which said covers may be swung to and from open and closedpositions and a spring clamp for retaining bills therein, thatimprovement in said spring clamp which comprises a frame provided -withsecuring means fastened at the juncture of the covers, a leaf springmounted in said frame, and two clamps pivotally mounted in said frameadapted to be held in position by said spring.

3. In a billfold of the type having covers interconnected by a hingeabout which said covers may be swung to and from open and closedpositions and a spring cla-mp for retaining bills therein, thatimprovement in said spring clamp which comprises a U-shaped frameprovided with securing means fastened at the hinge, a leaf springmounted in said U-shaped frame and two clamps pivotaliy mounted in saidU -shaped frame adapted to be held in position by said spring.

4. In a billfold of the type having covers interconnected by a hingeabout which said covers may be swung to and from open and closedpositions and a spring clamp for retaining bills therein, thatimprovement in said spring clamps which comprises a U-shaped frameprovided with a U- shaped wire projecting through holes in said U-shaped frame, a leaf spring secured in said U- shaped frame, two clampspivotally mounted in said U-shaped frame adapted to cooperate with saidspring in open or closed position and a onepiece binder tube of rigidmaterial extending substantially the full length of said hinge, beingsplit from end to end thereof to provide uniformly spaced free-edgedjaws adapted to co-operate with the ends of said U-shaped wireprojecting through said holes and said hinge..

5. In a billfold of the type having covers intel'- connected by a hingeabout which said covers may be swung to and from open and closedpositions and a spring clamp for retaining bills therein, thatimprovement in said spring clamp which comprises a U-shaped framesecured in said hinge, a leaf spring securely held in said U- shapedframe, arcuate clamps pivotally mounted in either end of said U-shapedframe and pivoted to present their cam surfaces to said leaf springends. y

6. In a billfold of the type having covers interconnected by a hingeabout which said covers may be swung to and from open and closedpositions and a spring clamp for retaining bills therein, thatimprovement in said spring clamp which comprises a U-shaped framerelieved for .a short distance at either end of base of the U material,a U-shaped wire projecting through holes in the base of said U-shapedframe, the ends of said wire passing through said hinge and providedwith ends bent to face each other, a. leaf spring mounted in saidU-shaped frame, two arcuate shaped clips provided with finger piecespivotally mounted in said U-shaped frame in a manner to allow the camsurfaces oi the arcuate clips to engage the ends of the leaf spring anda partially rounded piece of tubing positioned to cover the stitches ofsaid flexible strips and the bent ends of said U-s'naped wire.

7. In a billfold of the type having covers interconnected by a hingeabout which said covers may be swung to and from open and closedpositions and a spring clamp for retaining bills therein thatimprovement in said spring clamp which comprises a rigid bar membergenerally parallel with said hinge, pivots at each end of said barmember, bill clamping means carried by said pivots and a resilient meansretained by said bar member and engageable with said bill clamping meansfor resiliently biasing them into retaining engagement with the bills tobe carried in said billfold.

CARL A. ANDERSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 338,248 Capron Mar. 23, 1886573,891 Martin Dec. 29, 1896 1,223,946 Fenigstein Apr. 24, 19171,454,182 Myer May s, 1923 1,545,577 Arms July 14, 1925 1,599,292 SeaveySept. 7, 1926 1,686,483 Ballou et al. Oct. 2, 1928 2,419,092 Schupbacket al Apr. l5, 1947 2,455,515 Miller Dec. 7, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS NumberCountry Date 357,280 Great Britain Sept. 24, 1931

